I get referrals from the upwork talent group. I really appreciate that. On the other hand, I find the referrals are sometimes not a great fit. When I decline, there is an option to give feedback to the client. What I'd like to see is feedback to the Talent Group managers. There doesn't seem to be any way to 'teach' those specialists what good and not-so-good referrals look like. How do Specialists get evaluated to ensure they're giving 'hot leads' and not just sending jobs to everyone? And is there a way a freelancer can give feedback for a lead that maybe should not have been sent?

(I feel like I posted this elsewhere but I didn't find it so here it is again...)

Nina, Thanks so much. Guru Jess C pointed out the thread is 2 years old, so maybe we can continue here.

Your response (below) was helpful. My follow-up question was about how the talent group gets the info. I would not want to send the client info saying that it was a bad referral. Impressions are important, and that would be a negative and unnecessary first impression to make with that potential client. I wouldn't want to say something negative about the Talent Group in front of your client either. Some of the other commenters on the older thread pointed out that the Talent Group seems secretive. Is there a way now or potentially upcoming to send feedback to talent group managers to about referrals, without bothering a client?

When you decline an invitation that doesn't fit your profile skills or expectations, then you have the option to provide a reason as to why you have chosen to decline. Please note that the Talent Group team checks the information left in your reason for declining and uses it to to continue to improve their processes so it is a great place to provide feedback for the team that will help them improve the invitations.

Steve, one big concern that I have not seen anyone from Upwork address is the significant likelihood that new clients are being driven off of the platform by the terribly inappropriate matches they are being offered.

When a client asks for an entry-level person to hand code a website and the talent specialist invites a website developer who only works in Wordpress, a website developer who hand codes but charges $125/hour, a writer whose profile happens to mention websites and a designer who doesn't code at all (and all decline), it is natural for the client to assume that since those were the best candidates the Upwork talent specialist could come up with, they are the best Upwork has to offer.

So, the client reasonably determines that Upwork is not a good place to hire, tells his friends, and moves on...without ever seeing the 10,000 or so qualified web developers who were passed over in favor of these random, unqualified candidates.

That's a prospective client who will likely never consider using Upwork again, and who will recommend against it when the subject arises.

Steve, could you also maybe tell us what "Update" you're actually providing here? It seems to me like you're offering justification on how the program works currently, and no new information about how it is either improving or being done away with.

Our team relies heavily on the skills listed in the job post and skills listed on freelancers’ profiles when sending invites.

Perhaps you should work on improving the clients' job post writing skills. There are far too many pigs in pokes here.

I see posts expecting a fixed-price bid on a technical writing project where there is abso-fricking-lutely no way to determine what a decent price would be because the client has left out the following:

the industry they are in

the type of product they need documents for

the expected audience (end-user, management, engineer)

the number of products needing documents

the type of input material that they will provide

etc.

It's like asking for quotes on a 'vehicle' without specifying whether you need a cattle hauler or a chick-magnet sports car.

I don't have much to say about the TS program, my field is very straightforward so I don't see that much of weird TS invites. However, I was wondering if the program couldn't be changed a little bit so instead of having TS agents inviting people, they would just select and present a list of FLers to the client for them to decide if they want to invite them or not.

The client would be more in control while still receiving help. They could also rate the pertinence of each FLer so the TS team can get a feedback about the quality of help they are offering.